DA: Knocking on Hell's Door
by Darwin
Summary: Logan witnesses Max's death at Lydecker's hands. Guilt wracked for not saving her, he teams up with Zach to exact revenge in California. AU! 1 Of Projections
1. The Loss

Knocking on Hell's door

Knocking on Hell's door

As with all of these stories, DA is the property of 20th Century Fox, James Cameron and Chris Eglee.

This story takes place three years before Tima's Story and fills in some gaps that have been mentioned in both it and in Kito's story. Bear with me… I hope you enjoy it!

Darwin

Prologue: The Loss

The year is 2027….

"Do not attempt to adjust your set, this is a Streaming Freedom Video Bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds, it cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped and it is the only free voice left in this City…

"Manticore X-5 has lost one of its own… Max Guevera died in a hail of gunfire yesterday, her killer… Donald Lydecker… The head of the Manticore project…and her own creator. He is a man of power, who has in the past claimed the _capture_ of the missing X-5's, his 'Children', as his top priority…

"That priority is no longer the capture of the rogue X-5's… it is to terminate them and quickly. Any X-5 with in the sound of my voice… take heed and stay alive. Don't let Max's death be in vain.

"This has been a Streaming Freedom Video Bulletin…"

Logan listened as the announcement played and echoed for the fifth time from the TV's set at each end of his Penthouse. He felt numb, detached, unaware of the tears streaking down his own face as the details of Max's death played again and again through his mind in horrifying bloody clarity.

Flashback:

It was a quiet spring night, as Logan and Max made their way slowly home. It was still chilly out but neither of them felt it. They said little as they turned down the street and headed for the shortcut through the park. They had just finished a wonderful evening out celebrating the happy news, dinner, dancing, and even a movie that had been halfway decent to watch. Now they were just enjoying each other's proximity.

Logan glanced over at Max smiling warmly, then his eyes drifted down to her waistline slightly larger, evidence of her pregnancy. His brows furrowed, before yesterday, he hadn't even noticed it, but now that he knew it seemed to stand out like a signpost. Four months… and neither of them had known.

Logan and Max had been married just over a year, and they had found out just the day before that "the rabbit had died". It had always been hard to tell with Max, her cycles were odd due to her genetic enhancements and they had not had a clue until she started to get sick several times a day over the past week. Logan had insisted that she go in and be seen, and though she had been reluctant he had finally convinced her. Sam had confirmed it, and Logan had been ecstatic.

Max wasn't so thrilled about it however, she hated getting sick, even if she was happy to be starting a family with Logan. She had an even smaller appetite than usual and almost everything that she did eat tended to come right back up. It was almost to the point where she stopped trying.

Tonight she managed to keep her highly expensive meal down and she looked happy, so Logan was doubly so. She smiled back at him noticing his gaze, and squeezed his arm tighter as they headed down the last leg of their return trip to their shared Penthouse suite. 

Logan paused, Max continuing on, as an odd feeling passed over him, it was something he didn't recall ever having felt before. It was almost like an anxiety attack, only much more acute, a feeling that something bad was about to go down. Logan looked around him quickly, knowing something was wrong but unable to explain why he knew.

Max stopped just a few steps ahead of Logan and turned back. She was still smiling but her brows were knit together to express her confusion at his sudden halt, "Logan? You OK?"

Logan blinked as the sound of her voice jarred him into motion again, "Yeah, fine," He lied still glancing around him. The feeling in his gut intensified until he thought that he was going to lose _his_ dinner.

As they continued on Logan's eyes locked on an anomaly, and against his wishes they refocused bringing it into close up detail. The involuntary act made him dizzy as his brain fought to filter what it was seeing. That was the newest of the still surfacing abilities that Max's blood transfusions had brought on, and it was not something that he was either used to or comfortable with happening. He had no control of it yet, and it was more a nuisance than help. He blinked several times trying to process what he was seeing as his eyes began to water. 

Max followed Logan's gaze drawing in a sharp breath as she voiced what she saw, "Lydecker's men," Max whispered pulling at his sleeve, "We'd better get out of here."

Logan's lips thinned as Max's words gave what he was seeing the proper relation, and his brain quickly used it as a template to assign the proper interpretation for the next time his eyes did that. Unfortunately his eyes would not refocus to normal, and as he turned to follow her he shook his head unnerved by the sensation. It was playing hell with his retreat.

Max stopped short and Logan looked up with watery eyes seeing that they were now surrounded. They stood side by side sizing up the opposition, "You ready to try out those new legs of yours now?" Max jibed him deadpan, reminding him of his unwillingness to practice his newfound abilities prior to this.

He looked briefly up at her face before averting his eyes again, "Right now I'd settle for not being able to see every pore of your skin in microscopic detail," Logan retorted still trying to get his vision back to normal, if it didn't change his depth perception was going to be shot and he would be worth nothing in a fight anyway.

She looked back seeing his overly dilated eyes, "Shit," She grumbled realizing the problem that posed, she turned back looking to a spot down the alley a bit, "see that wide spot in the troops off to the right?"

Logan looked that direction, relieved when the change of focus jarred something loose and his sight returned to human standard, "Yes."

"That's where we're headed. Use the bin to get a leg up to the second story," She instructed him.

"Do I have a choice?" he said grimly.

"No."

He drew in a deep breath letting it out slowly before saying, "Alright."

They waited a count of ten before moving watching anxiously as the circle of guards began to close them in. Max tensed next to Logan and he reacted in kind as she ordered, "GO!"

They both sprinted diagonally across the alley headed for the spot Max had pointed out, as guns lit off all around them. Logan cried out and collapsed as one of the bullets tore through his left thigh rolling with a thudding stop into the bin he should have been on top of. He grit his teeth as the wound began to bleed profusely laying both hands on it to try and staunch the flow.

Max stopped and looked down at his incapacitated form, she began to climb down to assist him in gaining his feet. He looked up at her shaking his head to stop what she was about to do, "Forget me… go! It's you they're after!"

"But you?" She asked, not willing to leave him behind to fend off the soldiers not with what he was capable of now, if they found out he'd end up another Manticore experiment.

"They don't know about me!" He argued through his pain. He glanced back up at her again, as she remained shaking her head mouth agape, "Damn it Max… Listen to me for once! Go!" He growled as the soldiers came upon them.

Max's reaction was slow as she turned and leapt to the second story ledge, she gained momentum as she leapt immediately for the third floor. Logan watched her go through tears of pain, then glanced at the soldiers that were now surrounding him, watching in indifference as he slowly bled out on the alley floor. Logan was unsure now of what they would do with him. Surely they would use him as bait, to bring her to the rescue.

"Shoot her!" Logan heard a familiar voice boom, and he whipped his head back to get a look. There stood Lydecker watching Max's retreat, not even glancing at his people, knowing they would follow his orders unquestioningly.

"No," Logan protested weakly.

He watched in what seemed slow motion as one of the guards near Lydecker hit one knee, took aim and fired three rounds at Max's retreating form. The gunshots seemed to echo forever in the alley, and he saw her body jerk as each found a mark. She lost her footing hanging by her arms from the ledge of the third floor. She tried to regain her footing unable to manage it as her consciousness ebbed and her grip relaxed.

Logan was forced too watch in silent horror as she lost her tentative grip on the ledge and fell back to earth. Logan jumped up in spite of his pain, pushing through the soldiers around him and running to where her body had landed. He screeched to a halt as he found her staring in disbelief at her broken and unmoving form. More slowly he knelt down and gathered her gently into his shaky arms.

"Max?" He asked softly his voice raw.

Her eyes flickered a moment and then slowly opened looking into his distraught face. She smiled a small smile, "I'm getting slow, too much good living," She tried to joke, but her pain was evident.

Logan tried to smile but couldn't bring himself to do it. He could see in her eyes she was slipping away from him. Even her genetically enhanced body couldn't cope with three bullets and a three-story fall. His tears began to fall on her face as her eyes rolled back into her head and her body went slack in his arms.

"No," he whispered burying his head against her neck, as his shaking became more profound, "No Damn you!" He cried, unconsciously rocking her limp body back and forth. 

The last thing he remembered was the sharp pain before blackness overtook him. 

He had wakened to the sound of approaching sirens dizzy and ill from loss of blood but coherent enough to realize Max's body was no longer in the alley with him. They had taken her body and left him behind to live or die, as fate might want. He cursed Lydecker in his own head, unable to form words before he lost consciousness again.

Present:

Logan wished many times in the past twenty-four hours that he had died there beside her, instead he was left behind, to deal with the aftermath of Max being gone, he wasn't sure that he was strong enough. Logan opened his eyes looking around the Penthouse, so quiet now… it had been filled with sounds when Max was here. She would shuffle about always singing or talking to him or herself depending on the day. Then there was that awful Rap Music that she had insisted on listening to. Now he could only wish that last night had been a nightmare and she would stroll by the study, as she had every day for the past year. He wished he would play just one more rap song to drive him crazy and ruin his concentration. 

But it hadn't been, the harsh reality was that she was gone… and with her their child. Logan laid a hand onto his bandaged left thigh, another piece of shrapnel to add to the list, and this one carried an even heavier toll than losing the use of his legs had. This was not as permanent, but it was definitely more painful, physically and emotionally, than paraplegia. 

If he had only trained harder with what she had taught him none of this might have happened. If it hadn't been for him she would have escaped, she wouldn't have lingered, and she would still be alive right now. His eyes pinched shut and one fist came down hard on his left thigh, shocking his system, reminding him again that he had survived with only the wound he had suffered at Lydecker's hands. He held in his cry of pain at the act and felt the warmth as the wound began bleeding again, ignoring it as it quickly soaked the bandage…was nothing in his life ever going to be easy? 

He slowly drew his hands away and reached for the crutches. He awkwardly stood hopping on one leg as he adjusted the crutches under his arms, then slowly headed for the couch in the living room. He couldn't bring himself to try and sleep in the bedroom after what had happened. There were too many memories of them in that room and it would be too much for his already shredded emotional state.

Logan lowered himself gingerly to the couch and swung his legs up onto it, grimacing in pain. Slowly he covered his chilled body and tried unsuccessfully to go to sleep


	2. The Visit

Chapter One: The Visit

Chapter One: The Visit

Two weeks later:

Logan sat on his couch staring blankly at some unknown point on the floor, he only wore shorts and he and the rest of the place were a disheveled mess. Logan was normally a very neat person, he kept his house clean and tidy. Now he didn't care what he or the rest of it looked like, he could think of no reason to even make the effort, there was nothing to live for now that Max was gone.

His head hung down, and his elbows rested on his knees, and loosely held in his slack hand was the nine-millimeter. He had almost convinced himself that there was a reason to go on living, that he still had a job to do as Eyes Only. Those thoughts resounded hollowly in his mind. They seemed trivial now, unnecessary, he was tired of playing the world's savior. How could he continue the charade when he could not even save his own wife? 

He had tried to remain level headed and stay positive, but Logan was already predisposed to depression and the longer he remained alive, and without Max, the more he realized that not only was there nothing to live for but that he wanted to end it. It wasn't the first time he had thought of suicide.

He had almost taken his own life when he had suffered the setback of his body rejecting the stem cells Max had given him. He had only returned to his senses upon seeing the despondency of his upstairs neighbor, seeing himself reflected in her eyes. She had been right, he had everything to live for at that point, so he had put the gun away. Things had improved after that.

The treatments that he had received had worked they had just taken a while to take effect, longer than the 48 hours that the doctor had quoted him. Since then Max's DNA had taken over his body like a virulent virus, rewriting his DNA patterns and giving him abilities that rivaled Max's own. But none of it had done him any good when he really needed them, he had been just as easily shot. Max had still died and now his life was empty.

Slowly he drew the gun up, making his slack arm move, resting his chin on it. He shivered at the chill of the metal on his skin. It was already loaded, the bullet was chambered and the safety was off. All he had to do was work up his nerve to pull the trigger. He closed his eyes again, the tears falling down his cheeks at the desolation in his soul. His finger began to tense.

Something warned him that there was someone in the room, the same sensation he had in the alley. Logan wondered if it had something to do with the abilities that he had been exhibiting over the past three years. The gun quickly changed aim from the bottom of his jaw to the intruder with lightning fast speed. The intruder froze under his aim, Logan blinked as he realized who it was, he hadn't been through this area in almost two and a half years, "What are you doing here, Zach?" Logan growled, not relaxing his aim.

Zach crossed his arms and looked around the penthouse, seeing the condition of it. His gaze then returned to Logan, seeing that he looked just as bad, "What's going on here? Domestic life been rough on you?" Zach asked instead of answering Logan's question, "Where's Max? I need to talk to her."

Logan blinked again, could it be that Zach didn't know? Did he not hear the announcement? "She's not here," Logan said evading his question, "Not anymore."

Zach's eyebrows furrowed, "What you guys havin' problems?" Logan's nerves grated, as he actually sounded pleased about that.

"Something like that," Logan said woodenly finally bringing down the gun. He stood up tossing the gun onto the couch behind him, not wanting to make his death a public execution. He moved down the hall and had to make himself go into the bedroom, that was where his clothes were. He ignored Zach for the moment as he put something more decent on. The cloud of self pity that had hung over him lifted slightly as curiosity about Zach's presence seeped up from the depths of his mind, "What did you need Max for?"

Zach let out a loud impatient sigh, "I need her help. You going to tell me where she's staying or what?"

"What with?" Logan pressed, "I mean what can she help you with that you can't take care of yourself, Mr. high and mighty leader of the pack?"

"Nothing that would interest a cerebral computer hacker like you… not matter how miraculous your recovery."

"Try me, I might just be able to help," Logan replied smiling slyly, secure in the knowledge that Zach knew nothing about what he was really capable of.

Zach looked at him oddly, then shrugged and turned away. He wandered about the living room of the apartment as he started, "There's some trouble down in California, Tinga and a couple of the others are being pinned down in a town called Yreka, by Lydecker and his henchmen. No one else has answered the call."

Logan felt himself bristle at the sound of the man's name as the vision of Lydecker suddenly welled up in his mind, "Shoot her," the cold words echoed in his ears again, "Small town in the mountains," Logan added in a distant voice as the scene continued to play behind his eyes, "Stopped there for gas once," He blinked bringing himself back to the present as the crack of gunfire faded in his mind, refusing to acknowledge the sight of Max's body falling to the earth, "And they need you because?"

"Lydecker has brought in several squads, including at least two Manticore's. They've been outwitted and are barely holding their own, I need Max and I need to get her down there fast. They can't last much longer." 

"I'll help," Logan heard himself offer, burning with a need for revenge suddenly.

It was Zach's turn to laugh, "Right…" He said, "Max may have given you back your ability to walk but other than that you're not of much use. This is not about hacking into computers or dredging up information through your network of contacts. This is going to be blood and guts and kicking ass… it's not your scene."

"Don't underestimate me Zach," Logan said in a barely controlled voice, "I may be more help to you than you realize."

"Give me a break," Zach said rolling his eyes, "Quit wasting my time and tell me where Max is living right now."

"Sorry," Logan said smiling through his pain as he sat slowly on the arm of the chair he had been standing next to. He looked down as his sadness welled up again, "She was killed about two weeks ago." Two weeks, two day and twenty hours, he thought. He wasn't keeping track or anything.

Zach's eyes widened and he slowly sat down opposite Logan, "What?" he said slowly.

"She'd dead, Zach," Logan said, "Now, if you don't want my help go away and leave me alone."

"What so you could kill yourself?" Logan flinched. He had been there longer than Logan had realized, "Is that why? You're feeling sorry for yourself?"

"You can leave now," Logan said angrily standing, blowing by him, and opening the door. He cocked his head to one side; "You're trespassing."

Zach crossed his arms again and let out another frustrated sigh. He moved forward only to stop next to Logan. His eyes narrowed as he said to Logan, "I always knew… I told you that she would get killed if she stuck around for you. I hope you're happy."

Logan snapped and all of his self-loathing and guilt turned outward on a tangible target. He moved away from the door swiftly catching Zach off guard, hitting him in the gut, and lifting him off the ground in one swift motion. His momentum carried him back into the living room, and Logan flung Zach's considerably larger body across the room. Zach hit the wall hard leaving an imprint before sliding down to the ground. He looked up at the older man with a completely dumbfounded look on his face. Logan stood there breathing heavy a look of angry determination on his face. He was poised in a fighting stance that told Zach that Logan was not yet finished with him.

"What the hell?" He muttered rising to his feet, "What's happened to you?"

"You're about to find out," Logan ground out and rushed in again.

They sparred for long moments, Logan's pent up frustration coming to his aid as he lashed out again and again at Zach. Zach's expertise in his abilities slowly won out over Logan's sheer will until Logan found himself pinned, Zach's elbow pressed against his throat. 

Logan stared defiantly into Zach's eyes, and Zach noticed only then how bleary and beaten he looked, "Do it Zach…Put me out of both of our misery. I know you've wanted rid of me for a while now, so here's your chance. Max isn't even here to stop you," Zach hesitated relaxing his hold slightly. Finally he just let Logan go backing off a step, realizing that he had overstepped even his own judgment. Logan stared at Zach for long moments rubbing his throat "You think that I haven't beaten myself up every day since her death about my responsibility to her?" Logan turned away running a shaky hand through his unruly hair. He sat heavily on a seat, Zach only pivoting in his spot watching as Logan rested his forehead on his folded hands. Logan looked up at Zach the pain of his loss plain to read on his face, "She was four months pregnant."

Zach's arms dropped to his side as Logan revealed that to him. Despite himself Zach said, "What happened?"

"Lydecker happened," Logan growled sharply, "He's been trying to locate where we have been living for a while now. We'd been followed several times before that, but always, we always got away before. We were ambushed this time, I was injured trying to escape and Max hesitated. The bastard had her shot in the back!"

"And you want to help me to get revenge on Lydecker?" Logan nodded once sharply. Zach looked away a moment, "I have to know one thing. How? How is it you are able to…"

"Max…" Logan said in one word, "Her DNA rewrote mine, and now…" Logan shrugged, "I'm as strong, as fast, and as able as any of you. And I want to use it… I have to make up for what I allowed to happen, even if it means getting myself killed getting to Lydecker."

"I want no suicide missions here," Zach said coldly, leaning back where he was sitting.

"I'll do what you need to get the others out, exactly what you say. But after that what I do is my business."

Zach looked down a moment his jaw working. Finally he looked back up, "All right, you're in."


	3. Two Too Many

Chapter Three: Two Too Many

Chapter Three: Two Too Many

Logan muttered and cried out in his sleep haunted by images permanently etched in his brain. It was all the same, down to the detail, he and Max finding themselves surrounded by guards. Feeling again the bullet bury itself in his flesh and cause him to stumble. Having to watch in agonizing slow motion as the soldier hit one knee and fired, wanting to stop the act but unable to get up. She fell from her lofty perch to the ground while he bled his life out on the dark pavement. He leapt up again just as he had in real life, somehow finding the strength to fight off the burning agony in his leg, running to her, cradling her in his arms trying desperately to keep her awake, alive and with him. As he looked at her dying face through a teary eye she glared at him, "This is all your fault Logan!" She shouted, "You should have tried harder! But no! Mr. I Want to Save the World was too embarrassed to practice his gift! I hope you're happy…" The words faded into Zach's voice as Max went limp in his arms and looking up he found Zach's gloating face floating above him, "I told you this would happen! You allowed her to fall for all that phony sentimentality. You allowed her to love you instead of insisting she move on. She stayed for you and she died for you!"

"No!" Logan shouted into suddenly empty air, denying his guilt. And suddenly he was alone, surrounded by darkness and chilled by a mist that caressed him with cold fingers. Somewhere out of the dark a voice was telling him he was unfit to go on living that he should just kill himself. He nodded to himself in sad agreement, his life was a hollow thing, something without meaning. Looking down he found the gun had materialized back in his hands, cold and hard. He raised it to his temple his finger tensing on the trigger….

Logan was abruptly awakened from the nightmare by a sharp slap on his arm. Logan jumped in his seat, blinking heavily and trying in the first anxious moments of consciousness to orient himself.

"Wake up damn it," Zach growled looking sharply at him, "I have enough of my own nightmares to deal with, without having to listen to yours."

Logan glared back at Zach, wanting to be mad at him for the manner in which he was returned to consciousness, but at the same time he was grateful to be released from the horrid images that had flooded his mind. He leaned back in his seat taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly as he realized it had only been a dream that time. His own guilt about the incident was bleeding into his dreams giving them a release of sorts. He felt miserable though, depressed about what had happened and physically rotten for the rude awakening at Zach's hands. He closed his eyes again and pretended to go back to sleep. It was not to be however, as the images were only sharper allowing him to see every detail of the events of that night. With another sigh this one in frustration, he opened his eyes, watching as the forested scenery sped by the vehicle.

He crossed his arms behind his head looking back at Zach again, "You know there's something I don't understand. Why aren't we flying? Especially since this is a time critical operation."

"Don't have the money or the contacts," Zach said pointedly, "Unless you are willing to cough up some of yours."

Logan laughed despite himself, "My finances are not what they used to be. Which brings me to something else. You guys got all this ability, you have smarts… yet none of you seem to own your own vehicle, legally or otherwise. It ends up we are always taking my car. I don't get it," Zach said nothing, not even acknowledging him by looking at him. Logan shrugged and resorted to staring out the window, squinting suddenly, "Where are we anyway?"

"South of Portland someplace," Zach said distantly, "We should make Yreka by morning."

Logan slowly nodded his head, beginning to wonder what had possessed him to get involved with this. His lust for revenge was dulled now, and he wondered again and again if he could really hold his own in a combat situation. He had the ability but he was not trained as a soldier not like Zach. Butterflies rose up in his stomach suddenly. He knew in his soul that the only reason he had offered his assistance was to go out in a blaze of glory, and to do something worthwhile in the process. Logan knew that this was a headlong trip to his death…

But first they had to get Tinga and Company out of harms way, and he didn't even know the particulars of the situation. He had tried to get the information out of Zach several times with no satisfactory response. That worried him, he had a feeling that Zach didn't really know himself and that was unlike Zach. Grudgingly Logan admitted to himself that Zach was a very well prepared individual, having all the details worked out well in advance of any operation he choose to get involved with. That he didn't have the details of this one down did not sit well at all.

"Now I want you to tell me something," Zach said out of the blue cutting into Logan's runaway train of thought.

Logan didn't like the tone, "What?" He responded against his will.

"Did Max suffer?"

Logan sat and stared at him his mouth slightly agape. The audacity of the question cut Logan deeply, he couldn't even speak for long moments. He finally forced himself to answer the question, Zach being her family, had a right to know. He looked down at his hands his brow furrowing and swallowing hard against the lump that was suddenly there, "She went pretty quickly," Logan whispered hoarsely. Watching again in his mind the events that had permanently removed Max from his life.

Zach's eyes were suddenly hard on Logan's face, "Why didn't you stop them?" He asked raggedly, "You have our ability and training, I've seen it in you, yet you did nothing to stop them? What kind of a partner are you?"

"I told you… I was wounded," Logan reiterated defensively, "And surrounded by soldiers with guns. I did what I could, I convinced her to leave me behind," Logan swallowed again, "She hesitated about thirty seconds too long," Zach nodded his mouth thin as if he didn't buy the excuse. Logan shifted looking angrily at Zach, "And I suppose you would have just jumped right up and continued fighting? Give me a break, super-soldier you may be bullet proof you are not."

"Anything…"

"… Is better than going back to Manticore," Logan interrupted, "You've worn that dogma out Zach." 

"I'd have found a way to help her," Zach said is voice raw with emotion he had tried to suppress to this point.

"And you would have been dead right there beside her. You can't convince me that your way would have been better, you are not my better Zach as much as you want to think so. Genetically enhanced does not equate to genetically superior. Your biggest fault is your single mindedness in all things, everything with you is about the mission. The mission is not your life. You have yet to learn to temper your reactions with rational common sense thought. When we first met I'd have attributed it to your age, now you have no excuse," Logan pressed fed up with his whole attitude. The two of them went silent for a long time, Zach's jaw worked heavily and Logan could almost hear his teeth grinding. There were two too many fiercely independent men sitting in this vehicle, neither of them wanted to be wrong. When Logan spoke again it was in a much less accusatory tone, "Besides the game has changed… Lydecker is not trying to capture you guys anymore, it isn't even an option. He and whoever runs his department want the X-5's Dead. Or had you not been keeping up on current events?"

Zach's face turned grimmer, "I know…" He said simply, "All but seven of us killed by Manticore in the past five years. We're becoming an endangered species."

Several hours later they switched and Logan drove while Zach slept, leaving him only the radio and his own thoughts for company. He had spouted some brave words to Zach, but he wasn't sure that Zach had not been right. Was there something else he could have done to prevent Max's death? He wanted to say no, but it always came back to the fact that he had not practiced not like he should have in his abilities. They were not honed to a fine reactive edge like they should have been. And maybe just maybe if he had the situation would have gone a different way.

Twenty-twenty hindsight… Logan's mouth thinned as he wrenched his thoughts away from the past a moment to consider what was in store ahead in Yreka. Two Manticore's leading two squads of soldiers, the odds were going to be heavily against them, and he wondered dully at their chances of success. Normally he would say pretty slim, but he had seen what Max could do on any given day and he had also seen the results when several of them teamed up, so perhaps this was not so much a lost cause after all.

All he was really hoping was that Lydecker would be there, Logan wanted his pound of flesh from the man, and he didn't care what it would cost him personally.

They pulled into the town just before daybreak, actually just outside of town, finding a dirt road that led off the old I-5 freeway and into the surrounding scrub. It would not do them or Tinga any good to get captured as they pulled into town right into Lydecker's waiting clutches. Logan turned off the lights relying on his enhanced sight. It had improved drastically since the ability first manifested itself and now Logan was pretty much in control of it. Everything tinged slightly green in the predawn light as they bumped down the unimproved road that rimmed the town. 

Yreka was settled in a small valley in the rolling foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountain range. It was still early spring here, just a slight bit of frost still on the ground from the almost frozen temperatures, but blooms were starting show themselves a precursor to the coming warmer weather. 

Logan stopped the van behind a small stand of pine trees and killed the engine. He and Zach silently got out and moved to the rim of the valley looking down at the sleepy looking town. It was hard to see through the trees interspersed between the buildings. Only the larger buildings could be seen, their roofs peeking out of the surrounding evergreen.

Zach crouched down and Logan followed suit as he studied the layout of the town, "Tinga said that they were pinned in on the West End of town in one of the houses. Here's the address," Zach said as he pulled out a map of the town and laid it out between them, "It's not going to be easy, There are a lot of places for Lydecker's men to be set up."

They spent long hours pouring over the map and coming up with a plan of attack to get them in and out. Again Logan had a feeling that there was more to this op than what he and Zach had been given. Again he couldn't explain to himself why he knew that, only that he did. They were walking into something more than a rescue operation. 


	4. To the Rescue?

Chapter Three: To the Rescue

Chapter Three: To the Rescue?

Logan and Zach cautiously moved through the forest surrounding their intended target, wary of anything that seemed out of place. Logan's still healing leg ached fiercely both for the long drive and for the position he was now in, half crouched, putting all the strain on his quad muscles, making the scar tissue pull. The longer he was in this position the more profound his limp became. He tried to ignore it and concentrate on what was happening around him.

All was quiet, deathly quiet and that raked across Logan's already raw nerves. It was all adding to the sense of foreboding Logan had been feeling since approaching the town. There were no signs of anything out of place as they moved closer to the street, unless you considered that there was no one about.

Logan strained his sight and his hearing trying to catch signs of life. There was none, it was like they were walking into a ghost town. That did not jive with what he remembered of this town. It was a pristine place, another pocket where you could never tell that the pulse had hit it. Everyone who had been in this little mountain town was already prepared for hardship, dealing with the harsh mountain winters year after year had left them better prepared than most when the Pulse had struck. There was little adjustment required of them. 

When he had come through the last time he found that they were very friendly and helpful, lacking the mistrust of most of the rest of America. But today the streets were empty, and he couldn't even hear the wildlife of the area. Not even a bird was singing.

They paused just a hundred yards from the building in which Tinga and those with her were being pinned. Zach and Logan glanced at each other in confusion, there was no contingent here guarding the place. No sign that Manticore had the place under surveillance much less siege, "I don't like it," Logan said, his stomach convulsing more intensely, "It's too quiet. It feels like a trap."

"We go in," Zach said stubbornly, "We have to be sure."

Logan took a deep breath, nodding once, remembering his promise to follow Zach's lead until this was done, not matter how much he didn't like it. Zach moved even more cautiously toward the small red house set just off the scrub that was providing them concealment. Logan moved more slowly, trying to see everywhere at once, still seeing nothing. That gave him no comfort.

Zach hugged the wall of the building moving around to the back door, still alert for any resistance to their progress. He stopped and plastering himself to the wall he reached over slowly and tried the knob, it was unlocked and he slowly pushed it inward. He paused a moment and then rushed in sweeping the nearest room with his assault rifle, while Logan remained by the door. Only part of his attention was on Zach's progress, the rest was on the surrounding town.

Logan's stomach convulsed again, so hard this time that he wretched dryly, "Damn it," Logan whispered to himself, now was not the time to fall ill. Why was it that when he was in a tight situation of late his stomach decided to get squirrelly? It was becoming a real annoyance. He'd never been prone to a weak stomach before a month ago. It meant something… he was just unsure what. His entire body had been topsy-turvy for three years anyway and something like this was only another anomaly to add to the list. Only this time he did not have Max to consult with about what it might mean for him. What new ability was he developing?

He moved inside the room behind Zach looking warily around. It was unfurnished, empty, dusty and covered in cobwebs from who knew how many years of desertion. There were scuffmarks in the collective dust on the floor attesting to someone's recent occupation. Zach moved through the small house quietly calling for Tinga. No one answered him as he quickly completed his rounds. Logan stayed put trying to quell his heaving stomach, it was only getting worse as they lingered in this room. Zach joined him shortly closely examining the tracks through the dust trying to ascertain what happened. He stared at them as if he could divine the events of the past few days from the dirt at his feet. Finally he looked up at Logan, "Lydecker must have gotten them," he stated grimly, "If they were still here we would have seen his people by now."

"Then they may be dead," Logan offered realistically, "Considering his standing orders when it comes to the X-5's."

Zach shook his head, "God I hope not," moving over by the window. Logan's eyes stayed on Zach as he moved, unsure what there was for them to do now. He swallowed hard as the anxiety he had been feeling came to a head behind his eyes. Something snapped and Logan reacted without thinking, shouting to Zach, "Get down!" even as he tackled him. The window Zach had been standing next to erupted into shards of glass and bullets holes marred the wall behind them. They both scramble to the relative protection under the windowsill.

"It's a trap!" Zach growled, "They were set up on us… waiting for us!"

"So it seems," Logan agreed favoring his right elbow from his landing, "How did they know we were coming?"

Zach shook his head perplexed, "They may have intercepted Tinga's call," Zach looked at Logan sidelong, "How? How did you know?" He panted.

Logan shook his head slowly side to side, "I don't know," He met Zach's gaze steadily, "Something just told me you were in danger."

"But how? You didn't see anything… hear anything?" He pressed, "I didn't."

"No it was more a sense of danger, a premonition, I guess you'd call it," Logan shrugged, as the pieces started to fall into place in his mind. The feeling was the same as the one that he had felt when Lydecker's men intercepted him and Max. It was the same way he had sensed Zach in his apartment when he hadn't heard him enter it, "Max's DNA is still working on my body… it could have something to do with it." He offered.

"But she couldn't do that… I can't do that," Zach insisted.

Logan shrugged again, "I can't offer you any other explanations besides that. It wasn't there a month ago."

Two soldiers appearing suddenly in their midst cut them off from further study of Logan's newest manifestation of ability. They both reacted simultaneously jumping up and running opposite directions. Logan took the one nearest him leaping high and catching the man in the chest. The man fell back the added momentum driving him back several feet into the adjacent wall. Reacting automatically he made sure that the soldier would not be able to follow them anytime soon. He then turned to Zach watching as he snapped the man's wrist, and followed it up by sweeping his left leg out from under him and hitting him with a hard jab to the chest. He retrieved the guns tossing one to Logan and slinging the other one over his own shoulder. He then quickly rooted through the man's pockets for extra clips tossing the ones corresponding to Logan's gun over.

More appeared from the back of the house having hidden in closets and hastily erected hidden compartments within the house, reinforcing the thought that this had been a set up. Zach mowed the first few down even as several more began pouring in through the window, leaving Logan to deal with them. Logan, not having the time to familiarize with the gun he was given let it slide on its strap to settle on his back as he stepped in quickly meeting the first before he had fully gotten his feet back under him. He lashed out with a right and then a left, the he stepped back round housing with a left foot sending the soldier sprawling.

Logan jumped up grabbing hold of the curtain rod and swung forward catching the next square in the chest and knocking him butt first through the window. The first soldier by this point had recovered and laid the muzzle of his rifle behind Logan's ear. Logan reacted quickly, faster than the soldier could elbowing him hard in the temple, grabbing the butt of the rifle as the soldier fell away from him. He quickly flipped the rifle catching it by the butt and pointing it at the man. He lay there unmoving and Logan slowly lowered the barrel.

"Nicely done," Zach said grudgingly to Logan as he stepped over to him, "We'll make a soldier out of you yet." Logan looked around to see the soldiers that Zach had dealt with lying in different places around the room.

"No thanks," Logan replied, "This is going to be my first and last Manticore infiltration operation," Logan smiled tightly knowing that was going to be true in more ways than one. He was actually surprised with himself. All of the training he thought he hadn't paid enough attention too was all coming back to him as if he had stored it in the back of his mind without realizing it. He was making it look easy, "So what now?"

"We have to find Tinga and the others," Zach said automatically.

"I told you they are probably dead," Logan said again, staring unfocused out the window.

"We don't know that for sure, they may have escaped and are hiding in the woods somewhere not too far from here."

Logan focused his gaze as he noticed minute movement. He refocused on the spot where he had seen the anomaly bringing a familiar black clad soldier into close-up. He was pressed against the frame of a second story window across the street. His gaze shifted counting mentally the dozens of black suited bodies in the surrounding trees and buildings. His face turned grim as he looked out several other windows seeing the same view as he had in the first, "Uh Zach," Logan said regaining his attention. Zach quickly moved over next to him staring out at the suddenly easily seen contingent of Lydecker's soldiers, "Maybe we had better worry about getting ourselves out of here first, we're surrounded."

"Damn!" Zach swore. Logan and Zach shared a glance, and Zach's brows furrowed in surprise as he watched Logan's eyes resume normal focus. Logan was the last person he expected to see that ability in. He had really been discounting Logan and his claim of Manticore abilities. He had no idea that his ability was so extensive. Logan's transfusion had been seven years ago, had Max's blood affected him that much? The last few hours aside he had considered Logan a liability on this mission, not necessarily because he was unable. Their fight in the apartment had proved to Zach Logan's ability. It was rather that he could see Logan's reluctance in the use of those abilities, and hesitation in a situation such as this was going to get one or both of them killed.

He raced to the back of the house, Logan backed himself against the near wall watching through the window of hallway him darting back and forth between rooms looking for a way out. Quickly he returned, "Get ready, this isn't going to be pretty. I'll stay back here, you going to be OK to cover the front?"

Logan nodded grimly, "I'll do what I have to."

Zach nodded too moving back down the hallway and taking up a position. Logan settled himself into a comfortable position at this end of the hall trying to watch all the windows and the door at the same time, wondering silently where the first assault would come from.

They sat in stalemated silence for nearly an hour before anything happened. Logan had felt little change in what he was now dubbing his radar, it was steadily working making him feel edgy but it got no worse so he knew there was no imminent attack. He was actually falling into a lull, knowing it was a dangerous practice, but unable to help himself. He shook his head as he did another touch and go, blinking several times trying to clear the exhaustion out of his mind.

Stiffly he pushed himself up to a standing position glancing around his area of responsibility. He stretched for long moments not letting his eyes leave the windows. He snapped into a position of readiness as he was warned simultaneously by his danger sense and the crackle of a Manticore's radio, "Tach team two move in, I repeat full breach," He heard as if it was next to him, it was Lydecker's voice. 

He chambered a round into the purloined gun in his hands, bringing it up to his shoulder as he yelled behind him to Zach, "Zach!" He saw Zach's anxious face looking his direction; "They're coming!"

Zach nodded once grimly jumping to a crouched position, his attention all for the windows around his end of the place, "Pick your shots, Logan. Make your bullets last."

Logan nodded once without looking back as the remaining windows shattered and black bodies surged in through the broken panes. His weapon lit off almost without conscious thought and he watched in detachment as soldier after soldier went down before him. He could hear Zach's weapon behind him also firing in controlled bursts. The soldiers began to return fire, causing Logan to fall back to a more defendable position. 

Soon the hall allowed only one or two entrance at a time and Logan slung his gun again and began to fight them hand to hand to save on ammo. The sheer numbers of them began to drive Logan back and he ended up in one of the side rooms and before he knew what had happened he felt himself falling. He hit bottom hard in the dark cracking his head on an outcropping. Logan had just enough consciousness to look up at the hole in the floor above him that had swallowed him whole. Then his consciousness faded.


	5. A Case of Separation

Chapter Four: A Case of Separation

Chapter Four: A Case of Separation

Zach worked through the invaders systematically, firing from his protected position in the hall taking down any foolish enough to get in the line of fire. He knew this was a fight for survival, and fully understood the consequences if he failed. Luckily Logan had his back or this would be a rout, Lydecker seemed to be taking no chances when it came to their capture/execution. He ducked as another soldier returned fire on him rolling to the opposite side of the hall and quickly running up to the junction of hall and the room beyond he reached around the corner and dragged the offender with him by the throat. He threw the man down knocking him unconscious with one sharp blow. Zach fired at another that he caught sight of at his periphery, the man crumpled backwards. No one else tried to prove that they were brave enough for long moments, and Zach took a moment to actually breath.

He was doing well, and had nearly worked through the group in front of him. He was still at a loss about how he and Logan were going to get clear of the building and away to find Tinga and the others. A ray of hope was shining through though the troops were thinning out. 

Without warning he was tasered from behind, biting his tongue painfully as his muscles locked up and convulsed with the shock. He reached up and back quickly pulling the probes out of his skin tossing them to the floor, "You'd think that they would have learned by now that tasers don't slow me anymore," He thought. Manticore had used that on the X-5's too many times lessening the impact of the shock on their system. Recovering quickly he spun on his would be captors knocking the first out cold with one chop to his neck as more moved to take his place. He looked over the heads of those around him looking for his partner in this venture. He was nowhere to be seen, "Damn it Logan," He shouted above the din, "I knew it!" He automatically discounted the idea that he may have fallen to the numbers, already coming to the conclusion that he had deserted Zach buckling to the pressure of the fight.

Zach fought hard trying to win free, but the numbers were more than he could handle and eventually he fell to them. They dragged him out into the street and dropped him thoroughly shackled at someone's feet. Zach looked up into a shadowy face hallowed by the sun at his back.

"Zach," The man said in an all too familiar voice, "I told you, that you couldn't stay away from me forever," He smiled a short triumphant smile, leaning down he asked, "Where's Tinga, Zach?"

Zach's jaw worked furiously, both for the humiliation and for the betrayal at Logan's hands. He refused to answer Lydecker. The older man straightened again, "Who is your new partner? Another X-5?" 

Zach still remained silent, as mad as he was at Logan's desertion it was still them against Lydecker, "Just kill me, Lydecker," Zach growled glaring up into Lydecker's still silhouetted face, " That's what you're going to do anyway…get rid of the threat I pose to you and to Manticore."

Lydecker sighed, then he looked at the guard, "Take him to camp," The man nodded and immediately complied. Two of them lifted Zach to his feet and moved away. Lydecker looked at another soldier standing by for orders, "The initial reports said there was two of them, where is the other one? Did you get a good look at the man that was with him?"

"No sir, it was pretty much mass confusion in there. And he was fast whoever he was." 

"Where is the man now?" Lydecker asked impatiently.

"Sir?" The guard questioned.

"Where is he?" Lydecker said acidly.

"He disappeared during the fight, same as the X-5's that we were originally after. We have been trying to locate him without success."

"Find him! I want him and the rest found… You understand me?"

"Y…Yes sir," And the man trotted away to relay his orders.

"Damn it," Lydecker whispered turning away and missing the shadow that peeled away from a nearby tree and disappear into the thick woods beyond the house.

Logan groaned heavily, rolling over, blinking several times. His head pounded sharply causing him to grimace in pain. He raised a shaky hand to the back of his head feeling the knot of pooled blood under the skin at the back of his head. He was a bit dizzy but other than that he seemed to be OK. He looked about him or tried to, it was pitch dark. He waited for his eyes to kick in and allow him his night vision, only it didn't happen, "Great," He whispered to himself, "Bad time for a relapse."

He stood up unsteadily grimacing again as his left thigh protested spasming heavily from overwork. He readjusted taking pressure off of the tender leg, hoping that he hadn't damaged the still healing tissue permanently… He hoped he wouldn't be totally crippled by the end of this venture. He wondered exactly what had happened. He remembered the swarm of soldiers and having to retreat, and then… Logan looked up toward the ceiling, the floor had given out, and he had fallen hitting his head on the way down. He found that where he had fallen through the floor the light that should have been pouring through it was no longer there. A pang of anxiety hit him as he realized that. He had fallen through some kind of trap door, but who had sprung it? "Zach…" He said softly in concern realizing what it meant. Logan disappearing meant that Zach was alone upstairs to hold back Lydecker's men. He had to get back upstairs, surely as good as Zach was he was not going to win against the odds that were present up there. That would at best mean that he had been captured, at the worst…

No matter how much they had not gotten along, he was not about to let Lydecker kill Zach. His need for vengeance was a secondary issue now.

"But where am I now?" Logan thought looking about with dark blinded eyes. From the look of the place from above he would never have guessed that this place had a basement. Or was it a naturally occurring cavern? He couldn't be sure and the view that he remembered after his fall was very limited. He slowly spun around trying desperately to get his eyes into night vision mode, his fall must have affected his tentative control of his ability. He extended his arms out like a blind man and slowly moved away from where he landed searching for a way out. 

He blinked in the dark as his fingers stubbed into the rough wall nearest him, "Ow!" He grumbled, already annoyed with his fumbling movements, all the graceful talent in the world did no good if he couldn't see where he was putting his feet. Turning left he maintained contact with that wall walking hesitantly with high steps to prevent himself from stumbling on some unseen obstacle his free arm out in front of him. After a few dozen feet he encountered the adjacent wall and did the same yet again. The texture of the walls and the angle of the corner told Logan that this was some sort of manmade room or basement, rough hewn to be sure but a construction none the less. 

After just a few feet the wall that he had put on is right side fell away from his fingers and he stopped unsure whether it was a passageway to some unknown point or just another jog in the wall of the room. He didn't want to stumble down some passage leading into the unknown, for all he knew it would put him right in the middle of Lydecker's encampment. His mouth thinning he turned back and started to trace his way back, etching the dimensions of the room in his mind. After about half an hour he came to a point where the wall fell away on his left and he calculated that it was the opposite side of the hall he had encountered before. The room was relatively rectangular, and the edges had been free of any obstructing furniture. He sighed quietly, that left him only one option, to move down the unknown hall and hope that it came out in daylight somewhere.

Here the floor was smoother, graded almost, but the walls were rougher, mid sized rocks brushing against his outstretched fingertips. The passage was fairly narrow, as Logan reached out he could touch the opposite wall. He continued on, extending his right hand before him to prevent him from hitting a wall head on.

A pang hit him again without a reason it seemed and Logan's breath caught in his throat realizing with only a slight delay what it was telling him. There was danger nearing him, only he did not know from which direction to expect it. He wanted to say ahead of him, but Lydecker's men may have found the door, through which he fell and may have been coming up from the rear. Surely they had night vision technology with them, he'd be easy to pick off stumbling around in the dark as he was. He picked up his pace a bit hoping that he didn't stumble on something he didn't see. OK so his radar was intact… what little good it did him. It only served to make him anxious and paranoid. He wished yet again to be able to see the danger he was walking into. 

Suddenly, acutely his radar pinpointed the source of his feeling, so intense was the action that he winced physically. There was someone coming up behind him. It was as if he saw it behind his eyes, a bright nova of light approaching him fast and at the last second he spun around throwing an arm up and blindly blocking the blow that had been intended to knock him unconscious. His vision momentarily flashed green and he saw clearly the face of his attacker, then it was gone again and he was hurled back into blackness. Before he could speak he felt the right-hook catch him squarely in the jaw and grunted heavily as he went down. She was on top of him now and his eyesight came back on line and thankfully stayed on. Her hand came down quickly but Logan was able to catch it and hold it back. She was caught off guard again and Logan threw a left into her cheek watching as her head whipped to the side. Before she could recover, Logan slipped his right leg under her and up to his chest, planting his foot against her, pushing out hard, and throwing her off balance. She fell back heavily but quickly jumped to her feet assuming a stance for defense.

"Tinga wait," Logan finally had time to say, standing in his own battle ready position. They were wasting their energy fighting each other. There were higher considerations now.

Her eyes widened, then narrowed angrily, "Who are you?" She hissed not relaxing her stance an iota, "How do you know my name?"

"It's Logan," He said quickly, "You may not remember me, I helped Zach and Max get you out of Portland about seven years back. I came here with Zach to help get you guys out."

She stood straighter eyeing him up and down in confusion, "Yeah I remember…Zach never mentioned that you could fight, much less with our ability."

Logan sighed his relief, "I keep getting that lately… It was not something that he knew before last week. Where are the others?"

"Safely away from here," She said cautiously, "They should be out of town and on their way to our rendezvous."

"And you remained behind because?"

"Because I found out about Lydecker's plan to get a hold of Zach. I couldn't let him walk into that situation."

"You dropped me through that hole," He stated, "Why?"

She looked away, "I thought you were one of Lydecker's boys. I overheard Lydecker saying that Zach's partner had been in the house, and that he had disappeared. I knew I had made a mistake."

"So then why'd you attack me?"

"I was expecting an X-5. When I came down here to contact that person I found you. I didn't recognize you and had thought that Lydecker had misled me, that it was a trap to get to me."

"Zach's still up there trying to hold back Lydecker's whole army," Logan added still angry.

She shook her head, this time in the negative, "No he's not. They've captured him," She said with assurance.

"Crap," Logan said. He turned away from Tinga, "Now they'll surely kill him."

"I don't think so," Tinga said and Logan turned to face her, "They want him alive, because Lydecker wants me and they heard about you. They want what information he can give them about you."

"What about me?" Logan said as his stomach dropped, "They know who I am?"

"No, they just think that there is another X-5 with Zach, and they want him, you, too," Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him, "How _are_ you able to fight like us."

Logan looked down and Tinga saw the flash of pain on his face, "That is the million dollar question. But I have neither the time nor the patience to explain it to you," He said evasively, " We have to think of a plan to get Zach away from Lydecker, before he decides that Zach is more a liability than he's worth."

"Agreed, but how?"

"Do you know where their base of operations is?"

Tinga nodded, "About three miles down the road."

"Well that's a start" Logan mussed, "But first things first, get me out of here before my eyes decide they don't want to work again."

"What do you mean?" She said confused.

"Just what I said, my control in that area is not 100% yet and I've done enough fumbling around in the dark for one day," He turned away from her starting back up the hall. Pausing he turned back to her, smiling wryly, "If you hadn't noticed I'm kinda new to this."

Her mouth thinned and she nodded once moving past him to take the point, "This way."


	6. Pain Revisted

Chapter Five: Pain Revisited

Chapter Five: Pain Revisited

Logan blinked heavily as they came out into the late afternoon twilight, seemingly a nova to his eyes after so long of seeing through the green tinge that gave him sight in the dusky recesses of the earth. He had no relapses while they had trekked through the darkened tunnels, for which he had been thankful, but now his pupils suddenly did not want to return to normal. He shook his head several times, looking at different points in the forest around him trying to jar whatever had locked his vision loose. It seemed to work when he and Max had been in the alley. After several painful eye-watering moments he sighed gratefully when they resumed normal function.

"You OK?" Tinga asked looking back at him.

He smiled disarmingly, "Yeah, just the usual problems associated with a DNA rewrite, nothing wants to work when I want to. If I could just control some of the stuff happening to me I'd be a lot happier. I feel like I'm going through puberty again and boy was that a long time ago."

She looked back at him her eyes narrowing, "DNA rewrite? You part of some experiment or something?"

He laughed out loud then, "No… a victim of circumstance is more like it."

Tinga stopped crouching low and waiting for Logan to catch up to her. She looked him dead in the eyes as he stopped next to her assuming the same crouched position. She said nothing but the question was clear to read on her face. He looked away avoiding her eyes, why had he even brought the subject up? He was having a bad case of diarrhea of the mouth this week. If he told Tinga what had happened to him, then she would want to know about Max… and he was not up to explaining that… not again. A pang hit him in the gut as all the memories of the last three weeks replayed, catching in the same loop of images. He shook his head trying to clear his mind of those thoughts realizing that he needed to remain in the present if he was going to get to the objective.

When he did not answer her she shrugged and moved away again. They continued on for about forty minutes before stopping. They paused at a small shack that stood alone in the woods. It was old and decrepit, and Logan thought it looked as if a good wind would send it crashing to the ground. Instead of going into the dilapidated shack as he had begun to think she moved to the back where there was another burrow in the ground. Reluctantly he followed her into it starting to feel like a gopher or a mole. The passage was short and ended in a small room with several other corridors leading off into the dark. The room itself was piled high with boxes and Tinga immediately broke into one the nearest. Logan saw easily the neatly packed weapons stored there, well preserved. Without looking she tossed one his direction which he caught automatically, he looked at it and then back at her.

"Are all of you preparing for the apocalypse?"

Tinga shrugged, "Helps to stay prepared when Manticore is on your back." She said simply

"What are these tunnels anyway?"

"I think that they were storage cellars a long time ago, they were not in use when we found them," Tinga shrugged again.

"How long have you guys been living here?"

"'Bout three years… we were doing alright until recently. When Manticore drove us out of hiding a few of us teamed up, starting out up in Canada until the heat died down. We moved down to California to muddle our trail and found Yreka. The locals were supportive and asked no questions, and we were left to our own devices. Knowing that it wouldn't last we began gathering this stockpile knowing the day would come when we would be found and have to defend ourselves.

"We think that an operative came through here and discovered us, and then reported our whereabouts to Manticore. When the first of the troops arrived we holed up in the tunnels. We led them on a false trail to the house staying in the woods and the tunnels to keep from getting caught,"

"Sounds like you were doing alright, why'd you get Zach involved?" Logan asked.

"We didn't, and that is another reason I stayed behind when the rest left. Somehow Lydecker got a hold of Zach's contact number and left him a text message that we were in trouble. They set him, and you up. But part of it backfired anyway, they were already supposed to have us by the time you two got here. So they will keep him alive and hope that it will force us into exposing ourselves," she looked away, then looked him dead in the eye, changing the subject "We'll stay here until it gets dark and then approach the camp," she nodded toward one of the dark tunnels, "That one comes out about a mile from their base of operations. I think I know where they will put Zach."

Logan grunted as he settled his overworked body on the nearest unopened crate. He straightened his left leg out in front of him relieving the tension on his screaming quad muscle, "Well that's good because I haven't clue. We have a few hours?" Logan asked and Tinga nodded, "Even better, Lord knows I need the reprieve," he replied shaking his head, "Is it going to be enough… just you and me? We went through some of their troops there at the house, but I don't think we touched their numbers."

"Grunts I can deal with," Tinga said sounding offended.

"There is also this… Zach briefed me that there are at least two Manticore soldiers assigned to this operation."

"I know, I'm the one who told him," Tinga replied non-chalantly, "They're kids I've not seen before gotta be X-7 or newer."

"Great…"Logan said trailing off. He again experienced a pang of self-doubt, even if he had fought well in the past several hours. He chewed on the inside of his lip as he contemplated the wisdom of having ever gotten himself involved, all in the name of revenge.

"You OK?" Tinga asked nodding toward his leg.

Logan nodded his mouth thin as another spasm rippled through his protesting muscles, "Yeah fine," he said tersely. He felt the pain in his mind again as if it happened just moments ago, the feel of hot lead tearing through his leg. The agony as he tried to walk on it like a junkie on too much speed, determined to get to Max, to keep her from dying alone surrounded by the people she had dreaded all her life.

"Where is Max anyway?" Tinga said ripping him back to the moment violently, "I would have thought she would have volunteered to be on this little excursion."

"She…" Logan started, his mind racing. How would he explain it to her? He was not ready for another ostracism. Surely Tinga would have the same reaction to him that Zach had.

Tinga's eyes furrowed as she saw the pain move over Logan's face, "She's alright isn't she? I mean last I heard you two had gotten married. Did something happen?" To Logan her voice was high and accusatory. But it was just his guilt bleeding in.

Logan shot her a hard look, anger flashing in his eyes feeling forced to tell her, saying in a harsh tone, "She's dead… Alright," he waited long moments searching her face waiting for the backlash, waiting for the blame to fall from her mouth square on his already overburdened shoulders. He felt the hot tears well up in his own eyes as the admonition laid the wound open yet again. He tore his eyes from her face when she hadn't said anything, "And it was my fault," he whispered, "I failed her and the baby."

"Baby?" She whispered.

He nodded unable to speak for a long moment, "We had just found out when Lydecker caught up to us," he whispered raggedly.

"Lydecker had her shot," Tinga said as a statement, her eyes vacant, but Logan nodded again. She looked away from him, and Logan looked up again swallowing hard the lump in his throat, here it came. She turned and walked back to him stopping just a pace from where he sat. She lay a gentle hand on his shoulder, kneeling in front of him. Tinga looked into his hurt expressive blue eyes. Before Logan knew what happened she was hugging him whispering in his ear, "I am so sorry, Logan," His body was stiff as a board under her touch. She released her hold of him, "Logan," He looked into her dark eyes, "Don't blame yourself, not where Lydecker is concerned."

"You don't understand, I have all these Manticore abilities, Max gave them to me and they've been manifesting themselves for three years… If I had just utilized them, practiced in their use… she might…. She might still be alive. But I balked… I was uncomfortable with them. I listened long enough to gain control, so I could resume a semblance of a normal life… then I stopped listening, only halfheartedly trying when she wanted me to practice what she knew about keeping herself on top of a fight. In the end it cost Max her life."

Tinga backed up a step at the vehemence and self-loathing in those words, "I really don't think so… he would have gotten to her one way or another. You wouldn't even had been a speed bump to him, no matter how honed your skill," his jaw worked and she could tell that he didn't want to accept that, "Think about it… He has managed to track and kill all but seven of us, five, trained from birth, transgenic soldiers, and no offense what chance did you stand against them… even with your newfound abilities? You're lucky that you're alive after a run in with him… he is not known to leave witnesses to what he does."

As much as Logan wanted to refute what she was saying the logic of it made sense to him. He nodded minutely acknowledging her support. She watched as his mood shifted, slowly stiffly he stood up, drawing in a deep breath, "Let's get Zach cut loose," He stated in a strong voice, thinking, "And then Lydecker, you and I are going to dance."


	7. A change of Plans

Chapter Six: Change of Plans

Chapter Six: Change of Plans

Logan and Tinga moved swiftly down the darkened corridor headed in the general direction of the Manticore Base Camp. Logan carried two weapons, a riot shotgun and a sub automatic rifle for any heavy action, and all the rounds he could carry. Tinga carried nearly his load in weaponry but seemed less bothered by the extra weight jogging lightly next to him. Tinga had even had Manticore style infiltration suits enough for about four, including the riot helmets. They were each wearing one in the hopes that it would get them in closer to their objective. 

Logan's limp was again becoming more pronounced, and he tried to both ignore it and hide it from Tinga, who already looked as if she doubted his voracity for the completion of this mission. He was determined now… letting his previous depression turn to anger aimed at Manticore in general and Lydecker in particular, giving him strength, drive and motivation to keep going. But that did not mean that he was not hurting, he knew deep down that there was a problem with his leg, and all the added exertion was only exacerbating the problem. He discounted it figuring in the next six hours or so it wouldn't matter, he would be joining Max, and sending Lydecker to Hell in the process.

They paused as the light started to bleed into the tunnel from the full moon peeking through the trees. They both listened hard for anyone about outside the rabbit hole, when no sound but the animals was forthcoming they shared a glance and slowly moved into the low lying shrubbery that hid the entrance from casual observers. Logan fell in behind Tinga as they moved more cautiously through the brush. Logan stretched his hearing to its limit trying to get some forewarning of approaching danger, his radar was active but told him nothing, which he took as a good sign.

Topping a small rise they stopped again Tinga crouching low barely able to see over the bush she concealed herself with. Logan moved up beside her his eyes narrowing as he took in the view, butterflies rose up in his stomach knowing the moment was near, that his objective was going to be achieved. Below them were half a dozen tents of various sizes, with black clad special ops soldiers swarming over the place. There were many soldiers present but Logan figured it was not nearly the number assigned to this operation. Surely the rest were still watching in and around the building that they had been first dispatched to, in case they came back. Logan readjusted his eyes looking over the temporary structures and estimating where they might be holding his captured partner. He locked his vision on the tent in the middle of the place, surrounded by soldiers with weapons at the ready. Logan tapped Tinga on the shoulder pointing silently toward the subject of his interest, "Is that it?" he whispered barely audible over the surrounding sounds of the night.

"Or that one," Tinga said pointing to another structure about five hundred feet from the one that Logan had been looking at. Logan's mouth thinned as he looked at that structure, it was as well covered as the first one, "We approach it from the back side and see if we can sneak in. Just act like you belong there and we should be alright," Logan nodded, "We'll hit the closer one first then move to the other."

Logan nodded grimly and Tinga peeled off to the right heading for the backside of the encampment, Logan followed closely. It only took them about ten minutes before they came to the periphery of the military camp, and they paused one last time looking to either side of their position. When the coast was clear they stepped out into the well-lit area around the largest tent. Logan and Tinga assumed airs of absolute confidence and purpose as they moved systematically toward the closer of the two suspect tents. Logan's nerves were jangling each time they passed by another of the contingent of soldiers, straight up nerves, but each time they were not even given a second glance. Logan had to make himself relax a bit so that he would not give himself away by acting like he didn't belong even as he looked like he did. By the time they had reached the first tent Logan's heart was beating uncontrollably and he was not entirely sure that it was just nerves, he was thinking that something was about to go wrong. But he was unable to say it for sure.

Tinga paused in front of the guard nearest the door, "Hey man," She said strongly, "how's it going?" Logan hung back smiling wryly, seeing a trick that would have made Max proud.

The soldier looked startled only momentarily then smiled a small smile, "Not bad. You know, these watches suck, but someone has to do it."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Tinga said easily, "If you need a change of scene, my partner and I got perimeter patrol. We been walking for hours and are pretty well ready to rest our weary feet, y'know stand in one place for a while."

The soldier looked up at Logan and then to the guy across the entrance from him then looked back at Tinga, "You know we're not supposed to do that…"

Tinga shrugged, "Who's gonna know? Just one circuit is all I ask, we'll take back over before the relief shows."

"Well," He looked to his partner yet again, whom shrugged and nodded, "I don't see where it would hurt anything."

Tinga traded places with him and Logan did likewise with the other soldier, "Man thanks, you're a lifesaver."

"See you in about twenty minutes," The guard said amiably. They both shrugged to each other as they walked away. Tinga and Logan shared a glance and Tinga nodded toward the entrance of the tent, Logan nodded also sliding into the tent.

Logan looked around the area sweeping with the shotgun, finding that no one was about. Logan slowly moved through the room. It was a single man's barracks as was told by the single neatly made bunk set near the one wall. The place was Spartan to say the least only the bed and a makeshift nightstand and a small private dining area, no personal decorations, and no pictures. Something on the nightstand caught Logan's attention and he slowly moved that direction. Lying on the nightstand was an older Tom Clancy novel, and cautiously Logan lifted it up. He opened it to the front cover where someone had signed it and his heart skipped a beat as he read the dedication on it:

"To 'Deck: Here's the latest of that Military drivel you like to read… X."

"Lydecker," Logan hissed. His head came up sharply eyes darting around the room, feeling the moment rushing up to greet him, "I am definitely coming back this way."

Logan quickly set the book back down again bringing up his gun and moving out of the tent. Tinga looked anxious as he returned from his reconnaissance, looking at him mouthing "well?"

Logan shook his head in the negative resuming his post to the other side of the door. He refrained from divulging the information about what was in that tent, not certain that Tinga would be supportive of his death wish. 

Both wanted to move on to the next possibility in line, but to keep from raising suspicions they remained where they were until the two that they had made a deal with returned, totally unaware that they had been duped. They even thanked Tinga and Logan for the chance to get out and stretch their muscles.

As the two infiltrators moved away Logan couldn't help but say, "So much for 'military intelligence.'" 

They moved on quickly to the next tent they had marked in their minds to check, this was the one Tinga had seen from the hill above camp and it was set nearer the edge of the surrounding forest. Tinga repeated her act from the first time and again the soldiers were glad for the break and moved off to assume the "Perimeter Patrol" for Tinga and Logan. The way that the rest of the soldiers guarding the tent were positioned was such that they would not be seen in what they were about to do. This time Tinga took the point entering the tent, Logan was not far behind. Here they did find Zach bound and gagged, and he looked up when they had entered. He had looked ready for a brawl when they had first come in but visibly sagged when he saw who it was. Amazingly he looked none the worse for his time in Manticore custody.

Tinga put one finger up to her lips as she took his gag off, "You OK?" She whispered and he slowly nodded licking his dry chapped lips.

He glared up at Logan, who was covering them, glancing around the tent to the entrance and back to the two of them, "You deserted me!" Zach whispered hotly as Tinga worked on unlocking his bonds. Logan's eyes came quickly back to the younger man's face, only half hearing what Zach had said to him. Logan's mind was on a totally different tent, and what he was going to do when he was sure that Zach and Tinga were free of here.

"Hold still Zach," She admonished him, "It wasn't his fault, I thought he was Manticore and dropped him through a trap I had set up in the house. If you want someone to blame for your being here blame me."

Zach looked at her his brow furrowed then back at Logan, reluctant to give up on the notion that Logan deserted him during the heat of the fight.

Logan moved over as Tinga finished with the locks helping Zach to his feet, "Let's get out of here," Logan said actually managing to sound like he meant it. Logan took the sub machine gun and handed it to Zach along with the corresponding clips. Zach loaded the weapon and chambered a round nodding to them both when he was ready. Tinga slid out the door resuming what was the position of the guard on the door. She looked about her and then motioned the other two out. Logan resumed his spot as Zach slid out standing between them. Without any kind of word they sprinted in unison for the beckoning forest just yards from them. They all heard shouts behind them as they were finally noticed for what they were… intruders.

They did not stop running until they had reached the rabbit hole where they had first come out. They had sorely outmatched the running ability of their pursuers and were fairly certain that they had lost them. Only when they were several hundred yards into the darkened tunnel did they slow to a stop.

"We should be able to get back to the vehicle by daybreak don't you think Logan?" Zach said turning to face his original partner in this gamble, "Logan?" He inquired again his eyes searching behind them restlessly. Logan was nowhere behind them, "Shit!" Zach swore angrily.

"You think he was captured?"

Zach was shaking his head, remembering their original deal, "No… he's gone back."

"For what?" Tinga said incredulously.

"To die…"


	8. To Hell

Chapter seven: To Hell…

Chapter seven: To Hell…

Logan's whole world had narrowed to a grayed out vision of the large dark tent before him, what it held and what it had meant to him. The guards surrounding the tent were edgy as the rest of the encampment went up in arms looking for the escaped X-5 and the accomplices that got him sprung. Logan strode urgently to the entrance where the guard stopped him.

Looking annoyed for being halted Logan said in a deep hard voice, "I have an update for Lydecker concerning the escape," The guard looked him over sternly then waved him through, Logan sighed inwardly that the man had not called his bluff. It would not do to give away the surprise he had in store for Lydecker. He had visions in his mind of having to blow him and his buddy away and in turn warn Lydecker of what was coming.

Logan stepped into the well-lit tent immediately raising his shotgun aiming it at the back of the man who was the source of his loss. Logan's sight was now nearly black and only one clear spot remained in his vision and that was directly in front of him. Lydecker didn't seem to realize that Logan was in the room. The same could not be said for the two others in the tent with the head of the Manticore Project. Logan was so focused that he did not even see the two young Manticores barreling at him. He ignored his danger sense now screaming behind his eyes, he had no need of that now. His finger began to tighten on the trigger, it was a clean shot… it would be a quick kill.

Logan was tackled heavily by not one but both of them, and the shotgun went off but the pattern went high only causing Lydecker to duck. The gun in Logan's hand was knocked loose as he connected heavily with the deck and in a tangled heap all three of them rolled out the flap of the tent into the yard beyond. The two guards nearest the entrance were startled when the three flew past them, Logan managed somehow to disengage himself from the two young warriors. He now faced off with them wanting to get back to the matter of Lydecker's death. Unfortunately he was now faced with fighting through not only these two young transgenics, but the now fully alerted contingent of regular soldiers between him and Lydecker's tent. He had come to his feet with his back toward his objective, wanting to just turn around and head back for Lydecker. That would be futile effort, he would get cut down the moment he stepped that direction. He was beginning to see his folly in this effort, but shook his head. He would find a way to get to Lydecker he had to.

His eyes measured the two before him, both were about fourteen or fifteen. Both were dressed in infiltration suits similar to the one he himself was wearing. The smaller one was a girl her shortly cropped hair was bright red and her eyes were icy green, she was slim and showed some promise of height in the future. The other was an oriental boy with dark gray eyes and black hair. He may have been young but he stood nearly Logan's height, and when he filled out he would be twice his bulk. Between their brows were the 'marks of Cain' as he had once called them, dark easy to read barcodes. Both showed the cold remorseless eyes that Logan remembered seeing in a picture of Max as a girl. They were the eyes of a killer.

Logan stood stiffly at the ready feeling his danger sense sing even as he heard the guns come up training on his body.

"Wait," He heard Lydecker's voice behind him, grating on his nerves, "Let them hash it out," he said.

"Thank God for his like of theatrics," Logan thought. Though the two before him were not going to be easily overcome either. They moved in as one, and Logan was hard pressed to block the blows thrown his way much less throw any of his own. He held his own for long moments blocking the flurry of jabs, chops and kicks, but he knew that he was not going to be able to hold out forever.

Logan stepped into one of the blows lessening its intensity as he brought up his palm into the chin of the boy sharply, sending him to the ground. The girl moved in then sweeping out with a leg. Logan somersaulted over the leg intended to trip him. Landing awkwardly, he stepped back kicking out with the intention of connecting with her chest. She blocked it with one hand sending his foot to one side and throwing him off balance. As his left leg landed, putting Logan in an awkwardly wide stance, the girl dropped an elbow on his thigh. Logan buckled hearing himself cry out in pain as she connected squarely with his previous injury, and suddenly he couldn't breath. His vision was filled with stars and he groaned in a very undignified fashion. 

His mind told him he needed to get back on his feet before long but he was unable to get past the agonizing burning pain. It shot not only down to his feet but up through his back and all the way up to the base of his skull nearly crippling him.

"This is it," Logan thought to himself, "This is what you wanted… to go out in a blaze of glory." It echoed in his head as he saw the two Manticore kids descend on him. He blocked one blow automatically, distantly as if he was no longer in control. Some animalistic part of him kept fighting. He barely felt blow to his jaw and another to his gut, locked in an internal struggle with himself that took all of his concentration, "Only… you don't get to kill Lydecker… he gets to watch _you_ die," rang through his head. 

"No," He heard himself whisper out loud, and suddenly he was afraid. He was afraid of death, as most mortals are. Suddenly the darkness that had ruled his soul the past several weeks was gone, "Forgive me Max, I want to live," he said softly as tears of anguish mingled with those of pain. The pain in his leg intensified ruling his world until he was not even aware of where he was, before long it shorted out his nervous system and Logan lost consciousness.

Lydecker smiled proudly as his two kids relaxed their stances around the now unconscious assailant. Slowly he walked up to where the man lay crumpled on the dirt more than a touch curious about who would be brave enough to attempt to kill him in the middle of a Manticore encampment. The man was faced away from him limp and unmoving in the half fetal position. Lydecker had not even gotten a good look at his face when he had infiltrated his tent. Lydecker kneeled down looking over the unconscious form of his would be assassin, looking for a bar code that might be present. The man's short graying hair was not long enough to hide it, but there was none present. He slowly rolled the man onto his back his lips pursing as he studied the younger man's face. His face was swollen, bloody and caked with dust making it hard to determine what he really looked like. The man looked very familiar despite his injuries but Lydecker couldn't place where he had seen him before.

He could tell the man was older, probably in his late thirties, but he was in excellent shape as evidenced by the impressive display of skill staving off his kids' attack. But that led to a dilemma, he wasn't Manticore, he had no kids that were that old, not even the few X-1's he had left had reached that age yet. So was he from another foreign project? And why would he be here helping out two rogue X-5's?

He looked up at the two X-10's flanking him, "Bind him and take him into my tent, I think he and I need to talk."

"I can't believe you even let him get involved with this if he was in that state of mind!" Tinga yelled incredulously after hearing the story Zach told her, "He just lost his wife and you drag him on some mission when you know he wants to end it all! What kind of a friend are you?"

"I'm not his friend, never have been," Zach said defensively, "We have never gotten along. We have worked together on occasion, but only because of Max."

"But you still were willing to utilize him and possibly get him killed by bringing him along?" Tinga asked still confused by Zach's logic.

"What business of mine was it if he wanted to come here exact revenge for Max's death and then kill himself to join her? None! Absolutely none! As long as he didn't endanger the mission to get you guys out, the rest was all on him."

Tinga stood up and looked at him with a mixture of anger and disappointment, "You always were an asshole you know that?" then she stormed away.

Tinga moved over to the stockpile of weapons rummaging through different boxes pulling out various weapons that she figured she was going to need. Zach sighed and stood himself, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going back and getting him out," Tinga said, looking up at Zach with a steely expression, "If he's still alive."

Zach's jaw worked, "You know he's dead by now."

"We don't know that," Tinga shot his direction, "And until I know for sure one way or the other, I'm gonna make the attempt. You can stay here, seems how the mission for you is done… I should be able to handle this one on my own," She finished acidly returning to selecting what she needed.

Tinga started donning the harnesses she was going to need to carry some of the grenades and rockets that she was brining along. Zach stood for long moments just staring at Tinga in her calculated motions, furious that she would place the blame for this on him. Finally his guilt made him move and he started gathering together a similar set of ordinance.

Tinga looked over at him trying to keep the smug smile off her face, "What are you doing?" She said still able to sound mad, "I thought you absolved yourself of this?"

"If you think I am going to let you walk into a Manticore encampment by yourself with two Manticore Transgenics to deal with, you're sorely mistaken Tinga."

Tinga nodded once, chalking up the small victory in her mind. She knew attacking his pride would bring him around. They said little else as they prepared to lay siege to Lydecker's Base of Operations here in Yreka.

Logan started back awake, his head jerking sharply then falling back against his chest. That only served to give him one winner of a headache. Slowly he opened his eyes swearing he could see the red of the blood rushing through his head. He was sitting in a semi-upright position leaned against a narrow post that bit heavily into his back between his shoulder blades. He tried to raise his hands only to find that they were secured behind him and around the pole. Logan moved slightly regretting the decision as his whole body protested. His face hurt and he ran his tongue over the split in his lower lip, one of his eyes was nearly swollen shut. The rest of his pain was mostly overexertion though he did feel several bruises in different places over his abused body.

Logan's left leg was extended out in front of him and his right was folded supporting his left under the knee. Logan's brows furrowed as he looked at his left leg. Someone had cut the leg off the pants he was wearing and he wretched dryly at the look of his thigh. The gunshot wound had reopened sometime during the past several days and it had gotten infected. The wound itself was a sickly green color surrounded by dead white tissue, it was swollen and feverish looking and red streaks radiated out from the wound a telltale sign of the blood poisoning that had started. The limp and the pain that he had been noticing were supposed to warn him about the degradation, but he had been much more concerned about wanting his revenge. And he had told _Zach_ that he was single minded in all things.

Now that Logan was no longer being driven by his suicidal tendencies he began to worry that he might lose the leg. And it would be his own fault if he did. 

"You're awake," Logan heard off to one side, he froze physically and mentally, looking up only with his eyes. Standing in pretty much the same place he had seen him last was Lydecker, "Good, because I have some questions that only you can answer."

Lydecker moved over near Logan crouching to be on eye level with him, "Who are you?" He started, and Logan looked away hoping that Lydecker had not recognized him. They had first met at the Tanaka conference back in 2020, sat next to each other for hours before the terrorists had tried to throw Logan from the roof of the building. 

Then there was the alley, Logan's face pinched again at the thought. He was unsure if Lydecker had even seen his face when he had ordered Max killed, he wasn't even looking at him, but he had been unconscious for God knows how long. Logan didn't know how good the man's memory was but wasn't about to risk being recognized. Logan avoided eye contact.

"Who do you work for?" Lydecker pressed, and Logan remained silent. Logan saw his lips purse when Logan wouldn't cooperate. He nodded minutely, "Pretty nasty infection you have there… bet it hurts like hell. You really shouldn't let it go that long without seeing a doctor," Logan's eyes met Lydecker's, knowing what he was implying, still he remained silent. Lydecker nodded again slowly standing. Logan did not look up as Lydecker stood steeling himself for what he knew was coming next. Lydecker shifted his weight raising his left foot and setting in on top of the gunshot wound. Slowly Lydecker shifted more weight back onto his left foot, and Logan grit his teeth and held his breath as stars of pain flashed behind his eyes. The pressure increased until Logan was crying, "This can all stop if you just answer my questions. Who are you?" He repeated.

"I won't tell you anything, you bastard," Logan bit out his voice ragged from the pain. Logan writhed as the weight increased again, he saw blood now oozing from the wound, running down the side of his thigh to pool in the dirt. Logan quickly drew his right leg free and kicked up and over, connecting with Lydecker but only enough to throw him off balance. Logan gasped as the pressure was removed and the blood rushed back.

Lydecker recovered slowly, obviously not thinking that Logan would have been capable of that or else he would have secured Logan better. He looked back at Logan who was now leaned to one side supported on his right elbow gritting his teeth at the fresh round of pain surging through his leg. Logan felt him in his radar just behind and to one side of him. He could almost feel his eyes burrowing into the back of his skull.

Lydecker slowly came back into his visual line of sight and Logan glared at him sidelong breathing heavy. Lydecker sighed heavily, "I guess your kind of people just have to learn the hard way," He shrugged, "So be it."

He was wishing that he had never started all of this now, wondering what had possessed him, he obviously had not been himself since Max had died. He swore to himself that if he lived through this that he was never going to use his ability again, not for fighting. It had cost him too much already.

Logan watched Lydecker through a haze of pain wondering what he was going to do to him next in his interrogation. He was already losing consciousness barely able to keep his eyes open, and he knew he was going into shock. He drifted off again, only to be startled awake by a loud explosion near the edge of the encampment.


	9. And Back Again

Chapter Eight: …And Back Again

Chapter Eight: …And Back Again.

Tinga and Zach came back through the encampment with a vengeance. They lay two tents and most of the soldiers who had remained behind upon their escape to waste. Most were still searching the woods for the two of them and would continue to do so until they felt it was time for them to be found, and that was never. Surely they would hear the explosion echoing through the woods and return to defend the fort, only it would be too late.

Tinga smiled inwardly at the irony of it. She and Logan had come through here stealthily, quietly rooting out where Zach was being held, and had gotten out only to be discovered as they had disappeared into the forest. Manticore knew that they were still in the area, though would probably have never thought that they would come back to the scene of the crime. 

This time it was all or nothing, and there was no need to make it a quiet trip. They surgically took out what was obviously the communications tent disabling any attempt to call in reinforcements. Spots of gunfire were heard as the grunts worked to regain some semblance of order within their quickly thinning ranks. Each tent that they passed they cleared and checked before moving on unsure where Logan might have gone in his quest for vengeance. Surely he had been captured, his moves were good but not nearly as good as X-5 soldiers, not nearly good enough to take on what was left of the soldiers here. Tinga wondered silently if he had come up against the two younger Manticores they had heard were on this establishment.

Zach and Tinga moved quickly between the tents covering the open ground between them and their objective with and ease that spoke of years of practice. They quickly dispatched any that showed themselves. As they moved past the medical tent Zach was grabbed from behind and physically yanked back. Zach, reacting quickly, planted both feet somersaulting backwards, landing in close to the soldier that had assaulted him. He hooked his foot around the leg of the man pulling it back at the same time he hit him with a quick succession of punches sending the assailant into the dirt. He only noticed the barcode after he had ensured that the young man wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. 

Zach quickly checked him over for weapons taking everything the young boy had, "Damn," He said to no one, "Were we ever this young?"

Tinga smiled but was facing away from Zach covering what was ahead in case of any other attack, "I never felt that young if that's what you mean."

"I don't think any of us did," Zach agreed in a low tone stepping up next to his fellow X-5. 

They continued on until they were about half way through the encampment, before they could go any further another young Manticore soldier stepped out of the large tent that was central to the camp. She was aiming an assault rifle directly at Tinga, icily eyeing the both of them. The redhead said nothing just covered them. Stepping out of the tent behind the girl was Lydecker aiming his pistol at Zach, "Well, well," Lydecker said smiling crookedly, "What have we here?"

"Lydecker," Tinga said in one quipped word.

Logan barely heard the voices outside but they were familiar and were a boon to him. At the same time he wished that they had never risked capture to come back for him. He didn't feel he deserved that kind of attention, not after the stunt he pulled. Lydecker had followed the young redheaded Manticore out the flap as if they sensed the approach of the rescue team. Logan wished that he could help them out somehow, only he couldn't see how.

Logan blinked several times as a glint of light caught his good eye. At first he was unable to focus on the source of the light he had noticed, but amazingly his augmented vision kicked in giving him a good close up view of the small key that lay there. The keys to the cuffs, he smiled to himself not even regretting the pain that caused him. Lydecker must have dropped it when Logan had given his last-ditch effort to get the man off his leg. Now the problem became how to get to it. It lay about six to ten inches in front and to one side of where he was sitting.

Experimentally he tried shifting around the pole, grimacing and fighting off the screaming pain that moved through his stiff and sore body. But he kept on, because another thought had occurred to Logan, it was an old thought really, that Lydecker would find out exactly what happened to him, what he was capable of. Lydecker would then add him to the "To get" list that he seemed to keep. That possibility loomed in his mind right now and he would rather die than see that thought come to fruition. So he continued to pivot around the pole until he was in a position he thought stood the best chance of him being successful, his head swimming, his stomach roiling both threatening to gang up on him and send him into the abyss yet again.

Sliding down the pole a bit he stretched his shackled arms back behind him carefully feeling for the key he could barely see as he looked back over his shoulders. He sighed in relief as one finger brushed against it and he snatched it between his thumb and forefinger. Fumbling slightly and holding his breath he worked to get the key into a position where he could insert it into the lock. His whole pain wracked body visibly sagged as he heard the faint click and felt the pressure on his left wrist ease as the cuffs opened up.

Logan slowly brought his arms back around to the front laying them in his lap for a moment letting the circulation return. Trying not to move his arms too much, he switched the key to the other hand and unlocked the cuff on his right wrist. Logan flexed his fingers and then rubbed his wrists. He then set his hands on the ground either side of him and leaned forward. Logan brought his right leg up under him and attempted to push himself upright. Somehow Logan managed to gain his feet, and remain conscious, though a wave of nausea nearly overwhelmed him.

Logan experimentally put weight on his left leg, nearly biting the lining of his lip clean off when white hot pain shot through his body, "Damn it," Logan whispered, but he was not to be deterred. Slowly, painfully he moved toward the entrance of the tent, intent on getting free of here and living, "To a ripe old age," he thought ruefully, kicking himself for ever having given up on the idea.

"Lydecker," Tinga said quietly, angrily, "We've come for our friend," She said loudly, "Let him go."

"Demanding aren't we?" He said tilting his head up slightly, "But I don't know what or whom you're talking about."

Tinga knew this ploy coming from Lydecker, he was stalling giving his scattered troops time to regroup and surround them, she wasn't about to give him that advantage. Without thinking and without giving away her intention she swiftly rolled toward the young girl under the aim of her weapon and putting her in the line of fire of Lydecker. It only took the girl second to recover but it was enough, Tinga pivoted on her hand swinging her leg out catching the girl at the ankles and sending her to the ground. She then flipped up sending an elbow crashing hard into her face. She went limp and Tinga jumped up headed for Lydecker. It was unnecessary Zach was already there, and she watched as he freed the gun from Lydecker's grip and in the same motion twisted the arm up behind his back. That done Zach nodded toward the tent and Tinga nodded moving quickly toward the flap. Zach was closer but they made it through the flap nearly at the same time. 

Both of them stopped short at the sight that greeted them, three sets of eyes glued to the man standing before them. Logan's face was swollen, caked with a combination of drying blood and dirt. One eye was now completely swelled shut. His infiltration suit was more gray than black covered in dust with a dark smudge here and there that could only be blood. One of the pant legs on his suit was raggedly cut away giving them a good view of the nastiest wound any of them had ever seen. There was a combination of blood and green ooze running down his left leg from the fester, and angry red streaks were visible under the blanched white skin on his leg. Tinga could follow Logan's trail back to where he had been incarcerated seeing a similar pool of the stuff near a pole at the center of the tent. Then her eyes came back to him wondering how it was that he was able to remain on his feet in his condition.

Zach had nearly run Lydecker into Logan as he had hastily entered the tent. Both parties stood frozen for lingering seconds when without warning Logan punched Lydecker in the face with enough force that Lydecker was torn from Zach's grasp, crumpling to a heap on the floor. Logan nearly lost his footing and awkwardly recovered. Logan produced a gun he had retrieved from Lydecker's desk raising it shakily to aim at Lydecker's head. Slowly Logan shifted his gaze to look into Zach's startled eyes, his aim still amazingly steady on the temple of Manticore's leader. Logan's eyes were hard and cold and one corner of his mouth quirked up.

Logan's gaze suddenly shifted and with quickness Tinga would not have credited with Logan's condition he brought the gun up seemingly aimed at Zach himself, "No!" Tinga yelled what was wrong with him? Logan pulled the trigger, the bullet traveling just over Zach's shoulder penetrating the tent wall. The tent shook violently as a body crumpled against the fabric rolling off it to land on the ground with a grunt, it was followed by silence. Zach looked over his shoulder shocked at the action of the man before him. Slowly Zach returned his attention to the older man realizing what had just happened, "Premonition?" Zach said simply his eyebrows raised over his still wide eyes.

Logan nodded minutely, "Yeah," He answered barely audible. Slowly, as Zach watched, Logan's legs crumpled and it was all Zach could do to grab him before he joined Lydecker on the floor.

"Let's get out of here," Zach said grimly throwing Logan's limp form over a shoulder and holding a gun in the other.

"I'm all for that," Tinga agreed automatically taking point.

Getting out was easier than either of them had expected and they could not pinpoint just why that was. It could have been that they were tasked with getting the flammables out of the range of the raging fire that had been started or the equipment. It could have been that they had worked through more of them than they had thought. Either way they were thankful for the reprieve. Within a couple of hours they were back in Logan's vehicle and headed away.


	10. Something Gained

Epilogue: Something Gained

Epilogue: Something Gained

Zach took them to a small town hospital out of the way of the main road and hopefully out of the way enough that Lydecker would not come looking for them. Hopefully the doctor would be able to treat Logan's injury well enough that he could travel again in a couple of days.

Zach sighed impatiently as he watched the doctor's work on Logan's leg wondering if they would even be able to save it. It was a mess, severely infected to the point that gangrene had set in. The doctor had said that they would have to surgically remove some of the dead tissue at the very least. Hopefully there would be no need for amputation. He laughed shortly, wondering why he cared. He wanted to say because he owed him a couple, that sixth sense… that radar of Logan's had saved him twice and he knew it. 

But there was more to it than that. Suddenly Logan didn't seem like such a pompous overindulgent rich man. He was just like the rest of them struggling to get through, struggling with his own inner demons. Zach felt a pang of jealousy thinking about the relationship that Logan was able to share with Max while she was alive. That had been special and Logan had understood her better than anyone including himself. He actually sympathized with Logan's loss. 

Zach looked next to him at Tinga, she looked worried. She seemed to sense him looking at her for she looked up taking a deep breath and turning toward him slightly, "So you going to tell me the whole story about Logan?"

"I'm not sure that I know the whole story myself. He didn't give me any kind of details about it. I just know he went from being in a wheelchair to being able to walk in a very short period of time. When I went to enlist Max for help on this little fiasco he and I got into a fight," He shrugged, "I spoke before thinking."

"Sounds like you," Tinga said elbowing him.

His lips thinned but continued as if she had said nothing, "And when he nearly beat me at my own ability I knew that something was up. He mentioned something about Max's DNA rewriting his own, but beyond that it is all conjecture."

"You know what Lydecker would do if he found out about this," Tinga said giving voice to a thought that had run through Zach's head already about three times.

"Yeah," Zach said looking down and crossing his arms, "Hopefully he'll never find out."

Logan woke several days later still in pain and found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. He frowned blinking heavily as he took in the quaint little room around him feeling oddly like a man out of time. The room was painted in a warm peach color with lacy curtains and pictures of like colored flower arrangements. There was one large window and glancing out it he still could see hillsides covered in evergreen trees. He wasn't home but he was no longer in Yreka either, he almost thought that he was in someone's house. That thought was quickly overridden when he looked down his own body.

The bed he lay on was a hospital bed and he could see the IV lines and monitor wires coming off of him like leeches. There was a monitor on his right side where all the EKG wires were hooked up keeping the masses informed of any changes. There was a small rollaway bedside table next to the monitor that held a pitcher of water and a small plastic glass. There was a privacy curtain pushed back against the wall on his left side. 

His brow furrowed a moment as he thought about the reason for him needing a doctor when memory suddenly flashed back, and he bolted upright throwing back the covers in fear. He sighed heavily finding that his left leg was still intact, just to be sure he wiggled his toes wincing in pain at the pulling of his freshly treated thigh. It was neatly bound in gauze and there was a healthy amount of blood on the bandage, but no puss. He gingerly set one hand on the bandage finding that it was less feverish than before. They'd been able to save it, Logan closed his eyes, thanking God for that small miracle, especially after his last remembrance of it. 

Suddenly he felt every little overworked muscle, torn ligament and open cut on his body in agonizing burning detail. He sat there a moment longer until the pain subsided again. He raised a hand to his face, the swelling was down but that only served to make it hurt worse and some of the faster healing sections were already beginning to itch. He could almost see out of his right eye now though the site was blurred by blood. Slowly he ran his hand over his ruined good looks then ran a hand through his hair sighing, convinced he'd paid the price for his stupidity. All of that and Lydecker was still alive and a threat to him and the remaining X-5's. He vaguely remembered the satisfaction of breaking the man's jaw, but he had to make the choice between taking Lydecker's life or saving Zach's from the soldier his internal radar had picked up. He had chosen to save a life and beyond that all had been blackness.

About that time the door opened and Logan's eyes shot to the entrant, then went wide and he hastily pulled the covers back over his less than decent attire, "Tinga?" He croaked, then cleared his throat feeling suddenly like he had swallowed glass, and trying not to sound or look embarrassed.

Tinga smiled coyly at his modesty as she shut the door quietly behind her. That smile turned to admiration of the glimpse that she had caught. He was pretty well built for a man who was nearly forty. Then again he had fought pretty well both for a man of that age and for someone with no formal training under his belt in the use of his extraordinary talents.

Logan found the controls for the bed and raised the head of it so that he would not have to lean too far back and still remain upright. He leaned slowly back to meet the adjusted head of the bed wincing and slowly crossed his arms, looking at her through still exhausted eyes.

"How're you doing?" Tinga asked as she slowly approached the bed.

"I hurt, and I couldn't honestly pinpoint which cause is worse," He joked smiling, then his brows furrowed, "Where are we?"

Tinga looked up, "Oregon, little town of Lincoln. Had to stay away from the major cities, that'd be the first place Lydecker would try to find us, and you were in no condition to keep going."

"How long have I been out?" Logan asked honestly not even remembering what day it was when he had lost consciousness.

"'bout four days," Tinga replied shortly.

Logan nodded slowly, "That bad, huh?"

"That bad," Tinga reached over and grabbed his left foot making a tent of the covers, "How's the leg?"

Logan sucked in a pained breath as she moved his foot and thereby his leg, he tilted his head to one side looking at Tinga crossly for that act. Then he glanced down laying his hand on the leg that by every right he should have lost, "Still there, thankfully," He said solemnly, "It hurts like a son of a bitch, but its all good. At least it's still there _to_ hurt."

Tinga smiled not looking at him, "Doctor's not a hundred sure about it yet, but it looks as if you'll continue to keep it. That is as long as you stay off of it and treat it right...this time. But he adds that at best you'll have a permanent limp. He had to remove a good amount of tissue both skin and muscle to get you cleaned up," She smiled at him apologetically. She looked him dead in the eye now, "Zach says that you were shot trying to get away from Lydecker, that it had only been two weeks since the injury when you accompanied him," she looked puzzled a moment, "Why didn't you tell me you were still injured?"

Logan chewed on the inside of his lip looking down at the bed covers a moment, "Look Tinga, I wasn't myself back there… I had some… issues that I was having a hard time wrapping my head around."

"Max's death," She said bluntly.

Logan nodded repeating slowly, "Max's death…. She was everything that really mattered in my life and in less than a minute Lydecker took her away from me… And after that nothing mattered anymore, beyond getting to and killing Lydecker all else was moot, including my health… my life," He frowned a moment, "There was a point when I didn't care if I died."

"And now? 

He didn't look at her for long moments, "I…" he started his eyebrows raising above blank eyes, "I knocked on Hell's door," Then he looked at her, "And when it came down to it… I wasn't ready to make a deal with the devil," He shrugged smiling a small smile, "I was too afraid of dying. There are things I still have to live for…I just haven't figured out what they are yet," His smile broadened, "But that is the adventure isn't it?"

--And that is a wrap! I hope you all enjoyed this story. Thank you all ever so much for all of the support while this was being written! It is only because of all of you that I was able to continue and finish this story. I had some real dry patches and you all kept the imaginative fire lit under my butt! Thanks again!

--Up next will be the sequel to Kito's story, tentatively titled "After the Fire". It will be a serious change of pace from me… oh my, an actual romance style story… I hope that I can pull it off, give me some time it will be slower going.

Thanks! 

Darwin


End file.
